Asami Sato Breaks the Rules
by flickerface
Summary: The first rule is that Asami Sato gets what she wants. The second is that she never has to work for it. Ch 3: spoilers through Book 1 finale.
1. Chapter 1

The first rule is that Asami Sato gets what she wants. The second is that she never has to work for it.

This is why she would never, in a hundred years, admit she had engineered the accident that led to her meeting Mako. But a hundred years, after all, is not so very long; Avatar Aang spent that long in an iceberg.

It would take much, much more time for her to admit that she'd done it because she wanted, with a strange and desperate intensity starting somewhere under her breastbone, to meet the Avatar.

#

It took quite some time for her plan to come to fruition, her not-notable patience helped by the fact that Mako could be kind of cute, when you got to know him. By the time of her father's party, Asami had almost-but not entirely-managed to forget about Korra.

And then there she was: not particularly dressed up, clearly both uncomfortable and grumpy, and still the most beautiful woman in the room by a long shot.

"Mako's told me so much about you," she said, turning on the charm that had left the eligible bachelors of Republic City breathless.

But not, apparently, Korra. "Really," she said, "because he hasn't mentioned you at all."

Asami tightened her polite smile. There went her chance to make a good impression, gone before it had even arrived.

She should have given up then. But Mako's presence comforted her, and so she kept going out with him. That meant supporting him at matches and occasionally going to his practices, and somehow that frequently meant seeing Korra. Even if Korra thought that Asami was a terrible flirt, that she was just a pretty face and a stupid mind that Mako had-for some reason-fallen for. Asami didn't blame her; most of the city thought that. It was enough to see, sometimes, the Avatar's smile.

#

Inviting Mako and Bolin to stay served three purposes, at least, and that meant it was a good plan. She got to see more of Mako; she might, maybe, see a more relaxed side of Korra; and it annoyed her father, who was out-of-sorts about her dating a bender, of all things. It would not be, she suspected, very easy to ask forgiveness for dating the Avatar.

Not that Korra seemed interested. It was pure recklessness to take her out driving; it served no purpose at all, beyond Korra's clutch at her waist as she accelerated. In terror or excitement, she couldn't tell until she'd stopped the car and Korra vaulted out grinning. Her enthusiasm was infectious-enough that Asami forgot herself, throwing in a remark about self-defense training. Like that would impress the Avatar. Like the Avatar was willing to be impressed by her.

But then-well-everything else happened. And afterward all of them were on the Chief's airship, and all Asami could do was stare down at the city that had given her everything except the things that she wanted the most.

Behind her, Korra whispered to Mako that he should take care of Asami. Her voice was low, but it was a small airship, after all, and Mako wouldn't have thought of it on his own. Asami folded herself into his arms, taking comfort from his solid chest. It had been a thoughtful gesture on Korra's part.

Through the fall of her dark hair, she could see Korra turning away. Taking care of her troops? Or wishing she were embracing Asami herself?

#

When they landed at Air Temple Island, Korra made sure the guards could find beds for Mako and Bolin, and then invited Asami to borrow her bed-Korra could sleep on the floor, no, no, it was no trouble, they'd find a room for her in the morning, plenty of space on the Island.

Asami lay down, but she couldn't sleep. She heard it when Korra got up and snuck out and, after a long moment of deliberation, she followed.

Korra was sitting by a contraption that looked like it was made of doors, her head in her hands. Asami took another step toward her, and grit scraped under her foot; Asami Sato, daughter of the most successful tradesman in the city, had forgotten to put on her shoes.

The sound brought Korra's head up. "A-Asami," she said, straightening. "Hi."

Asami padded over. Everything was still here; you could see the city's lights, but there was no light here apart from the moon. "I wanted to thank you for sending Mako over earlier," she said. "I really appreciated it." She sat next to Korra.

"Oh. No problem," Korra said. "You knew that I sent him over to you?"

Asami said, "I'm one of Republic City's leading socialites. I know how to hear a whisper." She said it with a confiding smile, but Korra just looked out at the city. "Korra." She put a hand on Korra's shoulder, and instantly thought she should take it away. But that would look strange, stranger than leaving it. "You take care of everyone, it seems like. Maybe that's the Avatar's job. But-who takes care of you?"

Korra stood up. "I take care of myself," she said, and then without any apparent connection, "You know, Tenzin's uncle, he dated this girl that became the moon."

Standing, Asami said, "I know the legends."

"That must've been pretty hard." After a moment, she went on, "Back at the South Pole, there was this girl. I snuck out of the compound where-the compound where I was living to go see her. But then Tenzin couldn't leave the city to teach me, and I came here after him. I didn't even say goodbye to her. That's what being the Avatar means. I'll always have to leave, to go restore balance to the world."

Asami said, "But look at Avatar Aang and Katara. I think-" She snuck a look sideways at Korra's face. "I think it's less important that you have to leave to do Avatar things than it is that you'll always come back."

"Not for her, it wasn't," Korra muttered, and hope jumped inside Asami for the first time since Korra had said, "There was this girl".

"It is for me," she said.

Korra looked at her, really looked at her, and Asami looked back.

Korra turned away first. "You're dating Mako," she said. "I shouldn't-I can't do that to him."

"I've dated a lot of boys," Asami said lightly, but she shook her head. "You're probably right. You're always so sensible, Korra."

Korra's hands were clenching at her sides. And then she turned around again and, as if she'd known exactly where Asami would be, kissed her.

"And impulsive," Korra said when she'd drawn away, her voice rough. "Don't forget impulsive."

Asami smiled, more widely than she could remember smiling in years. "I won't."


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, the Air Temple guards helped Asami and the Fire Ferret brothers move out. Bolin and Mako each only have as much as they can carry. Asami never had to move house before; even when they went to different Sato mansions, she had new sets of clothes, new towels, new cars to drive. She didn't know what to pack, so she just took-well, everything.

The irrepressible air-bending children met them on the docks. The only reason that they hadn't greeted the visitors last night, Asami gathered, was Tenzin's wife's superlative ability to keep even the most distractible airbender firmly in bed. She was nowhere to be seen for the big move-in-unsurprising, after the night she must have had.

Meelo caught up with her quickly, little-kid cute with his attempt at compliment. Pretending to take him seriously, Mako said, "Looks like I have some competition."

Asami looked away, the memory of Korra's kiss still fresh in her mind.

There was no good reason to make Ikki follow the boys, so she trotted along behind them to Asami's new room (it's just down the hall from Korra's, she noticed automatically). They were almost there when Ikki came out with, "Asami, did you know Korra likes Mako?"

"Oh! Uh-no," she said. Behind her, Korra was doing something complicated. "I…wasn't completely aware of that."

After that, Asami wasn't really surprised when Korra shut the door firmly in Ikki's face. But before they could get further than "Thank you for your hospitality," Tenzin knocked.

It was the first test of Asami's adherence to what she said-that she didn't mind if Korra left, as long as she came back-because Korra just nodded and followed Tenzin out the door. But she glanced back and winked, and Asami, standing in the middle of an empty room, felt a little better.

#

They find Korra on the edge of a cliff. Asami hung back at first, because the brothers had known her for longer than she had, after all.

But she couldn't stay quiet forever. Korra was hurting, and Asami had to do something. "Korra," she said, "you're _amazing._" Bolin and Mako chimed in, and she retreated-as, she realized, she always would be around these three, if she didn't do anything about it-but they all put their hands together to become Team Avatar, and her fingers brushed Korra's.

She was getting dressed for the night's excursion when she remembered the taser gloves. Now those, she thought, would go perfectly with her outfit-and she'd stand out a mile. Judging by the admiring looks she got from all of them, even Korra, she'd succeeded.

Better yet, when they all slid off Naga's back, the three benders seemed entirely at sea for another option.

Which gave Asami the opportunity to flick her hair out of her face, another tactic that worked on all the Republic City bachelors, and suggest another plan. She couldn't resist a little showmanship, spinning the car out of the garage, and they all grinned. For now, at least, she was solidly a part of the team.

The boost of confidence gave her what she needed to bark orders at Korra and Bolin, and they helped her make the impossible turns. She'd always dreamed of riding the streets of the City like this, but no one would help Hiroshi Sato's little girl take a dangerous joyride. Now-now she was more than Hiroshi Sato's little girl. In the brothers' eyes and, most importantly, in Korra's eyes as well.

But not to Councilman Tarrlok. He saw her only as a traitor's daughter, an easy non-bending target, and struck her first.

Korra, well, Korra was distracted, Asami told herself. Korra had all the people in the street to worry about, not just Asami. Nevertheless, she couldn't talk herself out of the fact that Korra only got outraged enough to earthbend after Bolin and Mako got taken prisoner, too.

She didn't say anything as they took her away. She couldn't. Korra called after the vans, "Don't worry, I'll call Tenzin!"

But Tenzin never came.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiroshi Sato's daughter had been raised to appreciate the arts, and she had embraced them willingly-even theatre like Love Among The Dragons. She knew that one's first love was unlikely to be one's last.

But it still hurt more sharply than she could have imagined to see Korra and Mako touching in the halls, holding hands, kissing. She had allowed herself to hope, allowed herself to feel, and now she was paying the price.

Hiroshi Sato had had her tutored to be a Society lady, and so she had learned that displaying needs or desires was a weakness, but lately she'd been questioning a lot of what her father had told her. Which was why, one evening while they were all still at the South Pole-waiting for the snowstorm to clear enough that they could fly back out on Tenzin's sky bison-she rapped on Korra's door.

"Mako?"

"No," Asami said. "I-it's me."

Korra slid the door open. "Hi." She'd settled down for the night already; she'd changed into nightclothes, and her hair was slightly mussed. Asami curled her hands behind her back to keep from settling it back into place. They had only had a few stolen kisses, she reminded herself. None of that meant she had a claim to Korra.

The unfair part of herself whispered that a few stolen kisses were all that Mako and Korra had had, too.

Asami licked her lips. The cold kept stealing the moisture from them. "Mako apologized. Finally."

"Good," Korra said, her tone guarded. She had stayed well out of Mako and Asami's problems, which would have been wonderful if Asami hadn't been wishing Korra would come over and punch Mako out for her. "I'm glad."

"I know you have a lot of things to do as the Avatar. Fix people's bending and everything. So I thought maybe I should find you." Korra still looked confused. She was going to make Asami say it? "In case you felt like maybe you should apologize, too."

"Oh." Korra flushed. Her emotions were always right out there. That had been one of the things that endeared her to Asami. Now, Asami just felt-distant. Far away from all of this. "I didn't want to get into the middle of you and Mako, you know that. I thought Mako had cleared things up with you and that's why he-"

"You could have told me," Asami said, "you didn't want to be with me." There: she'd said it. It was the same thing she'd wanted to say to Mako, except by the time he finally apologized, she'd already known what he was going to say.

She wished them joy of each other. They would need it.

"I'm sorry," Korra said. "I really am. It was-nice-what we had. But it wasn't, it wasn't real. I thought you understood that."

"All I seem to be doing these days is 'understanding,'" Asami said, poisonously, and Korra flinched.

"I deserved that."

Asami wanted to say, Yes, you did, but Korra was already looking vulnerable. Asami cursed her stupid self and her stupid feelings and just said, "I just wanted to clear that up. Thanks." She turned to go.

"Asami."

She stopped, but she didn't turn back around. The tears she was blinking back would show Korra just how badly Asami Sato had wanted her: enough to break the smooth and calculating mask.

"What are you going to do? When we get back to Republic City, I mean."

"I don't know," Asami said. Her voice sounded ragged to her own trained ear, but Korra probably wouldn't notice. There were a lot of things that Korra didn't notice. "I'll let you know." By trained pigeon, or by telegraph, or maybe she'd borrow Pabu from Bolin and tie a message around his neck. Right now she'd be happy if she never saw Korra or Mako again. "Goodnight, Avatar."

"Goodnight," Korra said, unhappily, but for once she took the hint and closed her door.

Asami squeezed her eyes tight shut, tears leaking out at the corners, and wiped her face off roughly before she started back to her own room. She was Asami Sato. She would figure something out. And someday she would meet another woman, or another man, and maybe they would talk to her-actually tell her things, instead of evading them or lying.

But she would never meet another Korra.


End file.
